Unveiling Secrets: A New Path for Harry Potter

Malfoy Caught with Pants Down!

Captive Muggles in Dungeon, Dark Art Artefacts Found in Manor

by Simon Brightwell

Noted businessman and supporter of Minister Fudge, Lucius Malfoy was caught late last night with two young muggle men in a hidden basement dungeon at his family manor after an anonymous tip to both the DMLE and the Daily Prophet. Malfoy and the captive muggles were all found in the nude. The muggles had clearly been subjected to spells of some sort, although whether it was the dreaded Imperius curse or lesser spells is still to be determined. Coincidentally, Malfoy himself claimed to be under the Imperius curse at the end of the reign of terror caused by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

In a nearby secret room, several magical items relating to the Dark Arts were also found, any one of which should have been enough to see the owner thrown into Azkaban. While similar charges have been made against the slippery Malfoy in the past, with such obvious evidence, it is doubtful that even his close relationship with the Minister will be enough to protect him this time.

As Harry continued to read the front page story, he was more glad than ever before that he had met the Brightwells. Even though he had not personally been introduced to their son, the contact had led to this wonderful day. A couple of letters at just the right time had finally gotten that scum Lucius arrested. Harry did not have faith in the justice system after Hagrid had just been drug off to prison, apparently without a trial, last spring. But the fear of the press would hopefully get some sort of action. And if nothing else, the Malfoy reputation would surely take a hit. Besides, the cover photo of Malfoy trying to cover himself as he was led out in cuffs was awesome. Harry had Dobby go out and buy more than a dozen copies of the paper. He was going to have a couple of them framed, he might even send one to Draco as an anonymous birthday present.

In another part of the country, Pansy had to wait till the afternoon to get a chance to see the Prophet story that had obviously caught her mother's eye. She would normally not have been able to get a look at something like this, as the scandalous story was obviously not proper reading material for a young lady. But once her mother was distracted by her afternoon "tea" Pansy finally got a chance to look at the paper and had to run to her room before laughing so hard that she thought she might faint. Once she got her breath back, she sent a note to Harry via Dobby promising a reward for his successful and devious take down of the elder Malfoy. She could hardly wait to see Draco's face for the first time ever.

The next afternoon, Hedwig hooted angrily at Harry. She had been bored for most of the summer and had recently returned from the Burrow. He had written Ron a couple of times with little actual information but had yet to receive anything in return from his friend until today.

Harry,

Did you hear about Malfoy getting arrested? It's brilliant! I can't wait to see Draco this fall. Maybe he'll even get tossed off the quidditch team.

Also, where have you been mate? I tried to send a letter to you with Errol, but he flew around the yard for a few minutes and came right back inside. Thankfully, Hedwig waited this time so I could send something back with her. I know you've said you're doing well, but I hope you're not getting into too much trouble without me.

The other day Dumbledore came by to ask about you. Did you run away or something? He said you didn't go back to the muggles this summer and was really upset about it. He wanted to know if I knew where you were. I told him I didn't blame you for ditching them after they had you locked up with bars on the windows last year. The twins and I showed him, Mum, and Dad the bars that had been ripped off the window last year- they were still out in Dad's shed. He never throws anything away.

Mum went nuts once she found out about the bars. Dad offered to let you stay here if you need a place. Dumbledore got real quiet and had this look on his face like he was thinking real hard about what to do. He asked us to let him know if we heard anything more from you. He said he wanted to make sure you were safe, but if he really wanted that wouldn't he want to keep you away from the muggles?

Anyway, there's some more really great news. Dad won a bunch of money in a contest. We're gonna go to Egypt to visit Bill. Remember me telling you about him? He's my oldest brother. He works for Gringotts as a curse-breaker. It sounds like the type of thing we might do some day, eh? After all the danger we keep getting in, traps in old tombs and stuff should be right up our alley.

We'll be leaving in a few days, so you might not hear back from me for awhile. We'll be gone for a month. So if you do get in trouble or need a place to stay, you'll have to get in touch with Hermione. Probably not nearly as much fun as you'd have here. She'd make you study or something I bet instead of playing quidditch. But I guess you'd be used to the muggle ways. I don't know if I would want to live with muggles even for a few weeks.

Ginny keeps asking about you. I think her crush on you might have gotten worse after you rescued her from the Chamber of Secrets. I'm not supposed to tell you that though. She also keeps having nightmares, wakes up the whole bloody house screaming sometimes. Mum says she just needs some time to get over it but I'm not sure. Bloody hell, I've even had a few nightmares about Aragog and that awful night out in the forest. Don't tell Hermione I said that though. I get enough teasing from the twins about spiders, I don't need to hear it from her too. Especially since she'd probably tell me how there's no reason to be scared of spiders or something. She didn't see the size of those things!

Well, I better go as Hedwig looks like she'll peck my eyes out if I don't finish up soon. Have a good rest of summer mate. I probably won't see you till the train ride back to Hogwarts.

Ron

Harry immediately started wondering about Dumbledore after reading Ron's letter. He should probably give Hermione a call soon to see if the headmaster had been in touch with her as well. He would have to be more careful the next few days as well, just in case Dumbledore was trying to track him down. He would never go back to the Dursleys willingly. Now, he just had to hope that the old man wouldn't try to force him back anyway. Harry made a note to himself to get in touch with a solicitor as soon as possible.

Harry was able to get a recommendation from Vogruk at Gringotts. Samuel McKenzie was a half-blood with a muggle mother and had gone through non-magical law school which gave him the ability to bridge both parts of the world that Harry walked in. Harry guessed that he was in his sixties or so from his appearance, although that was sometimes hard to tell with wizards. He had plenty of grey in his dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes that Harry knew would be intimidating in a court room.

Sam, as he insisted Harry call him, was able to assure Harry that his emancipation in the magical world would hold up, as there were still several old laws that protected magical families and heirs from outside interference. Purebloods had shed enough blood over the years in their squabbles that there had been plenty of occasion for some of them to need legal and political protection from outsiders that might try to control or manipulate them, just as what Harry feared of Dumbledore. Harry remained a bit worried but tried to reign in his paranoia.

Sam's main task for the coming weeks would be investigating and potentially suing all sorts of people for the various Harry Potter products. Harry knew that this could be a daunting task but was so annoyed by the way many people treated him that he authorized whatever it took to get control over his name and likeness. The books describing his supposed adventures while he grew up in a bloody cupboard angered him the most, and Harry asked that they be targeted first.

For his part, Sam McKenzie was thrilled to become Harry Potter's lawyer. It would be an obvious coup for anyone to become connected to the boy who lived, but Sam felt it particularly keenly. Living through the Seventies had not been pleasant as he had worried for years about his mother becoming a victim of the Death Eaters until the deaths of Harry's parents. The fact that he treated the sacrifice of James and Lily Potter with respect won him major points from his new client. He insisted on giving Harry a special friends and family rate, and Harry was quickly coming to trust him. After all, money was a simple but effective way to insure loyalty. Plus, Harry realized that just as being his official solicitor would be good for Sam's business, it could also be terrible for his reputation if he did betray Harry.

Harry briefly considered having him go after the Dursleys in the muggle courts for the years of abuse but decided to hold off for the time being. For one thing, he didn't want to be even more in the spotlight once the news of his "childhood" got out into the press. Also, he wasn't sure yet what he wanted to do about the Dursleys. He deserved justice and they deserved to go to prison, of these things he was sure. But Harry also wanted revenge, and his anger towards them made it hard for Harry to decide what to do. He vowed to himself to wait till he could think through his options with as clear a mind as possible.

When he mentioned wanting a betrothal arrangement drawn up, Sam won even more of his respect by asking to check Harry for spells or potions that he might have been under. The test came back clean and Harry explained that, although he knew he was still young, he wanted the ability to get the girl in question before anyone else got to her first. Thankfully, Harry didn't have to lie about that part of the story as he was nervous as hell about the idea and was afraid that his anxiety could show. Sam seemed to take Harry's stress as a part of his young love and agreed to draw up a contract but strongly suggested that he read it through multiple times and make absolutely sure he wanted to do something this serious. He also insisted that Harry have a potential cancellation option of the betrothal in case his young client changed his mind. Harry agreed but wanted to make sure that Pansy's parents would not have a similar option, which seemed to amuse Sam quite a bit. "As if any girl's parents would turn down the option of getting the famous Harry Potter as a son-in-law," he had laughed. Of course, Sam didn't know of Mr. Parkinson's arm tattoo and he had kept his nose thoroughly clean over the last decade. Unlike the Malfoy patriarch, Edmund Parkinson had chosen to focus on making money instead of playing politics, but Harry knew that he could be just as dangerous regardless.

Although he had put it off for a bit, Harry eventually decided to call Hermione. While he was very fond of her, and in some ways she was a better friend to him than Ron, Hermione could be both bossy and nosy at times. And at a time like this, both of those things could be more than a little troublesome for Harry. But he also missed her quite a bit and therefore found himself in the Brightwell living room one evening. Ruby had insisted he use their phone as the top flat did not have a working phone and Harry had decided not to bother getting one set up just yet.

After a couple of rings, a pleasant female voice answered, "Hello, Granger residence."

"Hello, my name is Harry. I am a friend of Hermione's from school and was hoping to speak to her."

"Just a minute," she responded and Harry heard Hermione's name called out by who he assumed must be her mother. A moment later a breathless Hermione picked up the phone.

"Harry! Where are you? I've been so worried. Professor Dumbledore said you were missing and I haven't been able to owl you as Hedwig has never waited long enough for me to send anything with her. I tried a post owl from Diagon Alley but they said they couldn't get in touch with you either. What have you been doing all summer?"

Harry cut in before Hermione's endless string of questions could become more than he could remember. "I'm fine Hermione. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well. My family is preparing to go to France for vacation next week. But you didn't answer my questions. Ron and I didn't see you get off the train and now you apparently disappeared."

"Let me ask you something first Hermione. When you left the train station, did you happen to see a couple of incredibly unpleasant looking people waiting there?"

"What do you mean Harry?"

"One would have looked like a walrus, probably quite impatiently waiting for me to show. The son would have looked like walrus junior, although without the mustache, and the mother would have looked like a snobby giraffe, looking down her long neck at anyone that might seem like they were less than respectable."

"I guess I might have seen who you are describing. Is that your family?"

"Then you would have had the displeasure of seeing the Dursleys, my muggle relatives and some of the worst people you could ever meet."

"I'm sure they can't be that bad Harry. Please don't tell me you've run away from home. It's no wonder Professor Dumbledore is worried about you. Oh Harry, what have you done?"

"Hermione, who exactly is Dumbledore?"

"Professor Dumbledore is the Headmaster of Hogwarts. He is also the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW. You know that Harry."

"He isn't a social worker. And he isn't related to me either. So, why exactly is it any of his business what I do outside of school during the summer?"

"Obviously, he's concerned about you. Don't be dense, Harry."

"If he were so concerned about me, he never would have left me with the Dursleys."

"Harry, the Professor-" Hermione started, but Harry cut her off.

"I didn't actually call to argue with you about Dumbledore, Hermione. I just wanted to talk to you."

"But Harry, if you've run away then Professor Dumbledore needs to know where you are. You know how unsafe your life has been, the Headmaster just wants to protect you."

"Alright, Hermione, when exactly has Dumbledore ever protected me? Not when my broom was jinxed in the quidditch match first year, nor when the bludger attacked me last year. Not from the troll in the bathroom. Not from Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest; not from the acromantulas in the forest either. Not when we had to save the stone from Quirrel. Not when I had to go into the Chamber of Secrets to save Ginny."

"But Harry-"

"Our first two years, you, Ron, and I have done more to protect the school than the bloody Headmaster, so I have no interest in any phantom protection he might supposedly offer me during the summer either."

"Harry," Hermione began once again before Harry cut her off.

"Hermione, I'm serious that I don't want to argue with you about Dumbledore. Now do you want to talk about something else or should I just let you go."

"Harry, don't be like that. Will you at least tell me where you are? I've been worried about you."

"I appreciate that Hermione, I really do. I've got a new home that I assure you is quite safe. Do you remember me telling you about Dobby the house-elf?"

"Yes."

"Well he lives with me now and has been taking good care of me. Dobby seems quite thrilled to make sure that his Harry Potter sir is as well fed as Ron at a Hogwarts feast. So, if I get fat this summer, you can blame him," Harry said with a laugh. Hermione would probably be surprised when she saw him again, although it would be because of his growth spurt and exercise, especially considering that he wasn't being starved for once. Unknown to Harry, his ring was giving him even more of a boost as the Potter family magic was helping to correct his extraordinarily harsh early years and malnourishment. Dobby's excellent cooking skills were of great aid as well, and Harry was happy to give his little friend the credit for taking such good care of him.

"As thin as you are, Harry, I find it hard to imagine you fat," Hermione answered with laughter of her own. Harry was glad to hear it and hoped she would not try to steer the conversation back to an argument.

"Anyway, in other news, I've been doing quite a bit of studying of magic this summer."

"Oh, that sounds great Harry. I've always hoped you might study a bit more. You know, I don't actually enjoy always having to bother you and Ron about your schoolwork."

"I think you enjoy it a bit, my little bossy bookworm," Harry answered with a chuckle.

"Well, maybe just a bit. Ronald seems to need all the encouragement he can get and you shouldn't let him goof off so much."

"Yes mother." Hermione laughed at him and Harry continued,"I've actually made a couple of breakthroughs with practicing magic this summer and can't wait to show you what I've found this fall."

"But how can you practice magic? We aren't allowed to do that outside of school."

"Well, that 'rule' only seems to apply to certain people and certain areas. Apparently, the ministry only really keeps an eye on underage magic in muggle areas. The purebloods don't want their own children getting in trouble or being kept from learning early after all."

"That's totally unfair!"

"Of course it is. If things were fair, the Malfoys of the world would be forced to act like decent human beings."

"Speaking of the Malfoys, did you hear what happened?"

"I may have heard something. Couldn't have happened to nicer murdering scum," Harry said with a chuckle.

"It will be interesting to see how Draco behaves this fall. A logical person would be less likely to act like such a spoiled bully. However, Draco, I think, might be even worse."

"Wounded animals are more dangerous."

"Then we should be more careful around him next year."

"He should be more careful around me. Without daddy for him to complain to, there's less reason for me not to thrash the little ponce."

"Harry, you'll just get in trouble."

"And why is it that filth like Malfoy never gets in trouble?"

"I don't know. Life isn't fair."

"You're right Hermione. And if we want things to be better, then we have to make them better. No one else will do it for us."

"Is that what you've done this summer?"

"Something like that."

"Well, just be careful. Have you finished all your summer assignments yet?"

"I'm more than halfway done so far. I'm a little annoyed by it though. Pointless busy work. Personally, I've got better things to do than write a bunch of essays about witch burning in the 1400s."

"Harry, it's not pointless busy work."

"If they really wanted us to focus on something, it would be taught during term."

"Still, learning is never pointless."

"I assume you've got it all finished. Have you decided on which electives you're going to take?"

"I'd still like to take all of them."

"Of course you would. But from everything I've heard, Muggle Studies is a joke. That would make it extra pointless for people like you and me. I'm skipping it and Divination. I already know I'm not psychic."

"It could still be fascinating to learn about it. Personally, I think it might also be interesting to see what wizards teach about the non-magical world."

"Hermione, have you met Mr. Weasley?"

"Only briefly."

"Well, he's in charge of a department at the ministry of magic that has to do with so called muggle artefacts. And he can't pronounce electricity. That should really tell you all you need to know about how wizards see the rest of the world."

"That is a bit disturbing."

"I'm not telling you what to do, but those two classes seem pointless to me. I think Ron might take one or both of them though. You can be sure he won't be in Arithmancy or Ancient Runes. The idea of Ron taking one of the harder classes is absurd."

"You are going to take both of them though? That surprises me Harry. Are you becoming a bookworm like me?"

"Well, I figure that Magical Creatures will be necessary for me considering how many of the things I have to continually deal with in dangerous situations. Of the other two, Runes sounds a bit more interesting, but I figure I'll try both of them for at least a year. If I really dislike one of them, I could always drop it for fourth year and just take the two electives left."

"Are you sure your name is Harry Potter? That was surprisingly logical and well thought out. What have you done with the real Harry?"

"I might have grown up a bit while you weren't looking. You were busy being a statue for awhile there."

"I missed nearly a month of classes! Thank you for at least taking some notes for me."

"You're welcome Hermione. I doubted Ron would bother so I tried to do my best to live up to your lofty standards. I'm still not sure how you can manage to take more notes than what the teachers are actually saying. Unless you're just showing off to yourself?"

"I am not a show off Potter!"

"Of course not, miss Granger. You never want to impress anyone in class, especially not the teachers. Why aren't you in Ravenclaw again?"

"Obviously, because Gryffindors like you and Ron needed me to keep you in line and out of trouble."

"Thanks, mother. Anyway, I need to go in a minute. I've got a dinner date with a beautiful older woman."

"It sounds like you need me there to keep you from getting into more trouble."

"Nonsense, she's a great cook. Don't be jealous Hermione. I'm sure someday you'll have a younger man of your own to play with. Gotta go!"

"Harry, don't you dare hang up on me."

"Hermione, I smell delicious things coming out of the oven and haven't eaten since lunch. Enjoy France with your parents. I'm sure we'll both have plenty to tell each other when we see each other on the train."

"Alright, Harry, enjoy your meal. Please be careful, for my sake."

"Of course, Hermione. Tell your parents hello from me."

"Wish your dinner date well from me as well. Goodbye Harry."

"Bye, Hermione." Harry looked over at Ruby Brightwell who was serving up a roast. "That looks delicious, thanks for inviting me Mrs. Brightwell."

"You're welcome Harry, and I've told you to call me Ruby dear."

"Alright, Ruby dear."

"You're such a flirt. Was that your girlfriend?"

"No. Hermione's one of my best friends, but we're not dating or anything."

"You teased her quite a bit there, as if you might be interested in her."

"No, she's just fun to tease. Hermione can get far too serious for her own good if I don't look out for her sanity."

"So, is she like a sister to you then?"

"I'm not sure, I've never really had a family so its hard for me to say."

"Well, you're young still. But if you want a little advice from an old woman, a close friendship can go a long way when you do decide to date. And it sounds like you might need someone like her to keep you in line, youngster." Harry laughed along with Ruby; she always seemed to hit just the right balance between caring without smothering. While she would tell him things that he should do, it was always given as advice, never demanding or stern. Plus, she could be silly and make him laugh. They enjoyed a pleasant dinner together as Mortie was working that evening. His birthday was only a few days away, and so far this had been the best summer of his life. Now if only he could spend another evening with Pansy...